There have been many positions taken on the issue of Jason Collins sharing his homosexual lifestyle with the world. So here are some things for believers to consider as we engage with others on the subject.
1. Every person in the world is born with a sinful nature.
This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (Genesis 5:1-3 NKJV)
God made man in his holy likeness but Adam sinned and was forever tainted. When Adam had descendants they were made in his sinful likeness. So in our world people are born with tendencies toward alcoholism, theft, impure sexual desires, hatred, murder, dishonesty, and any other sin including homosexuality. Yes, some people are born homosexuals. Our heavenly Father didn’t make them that way, our earthly father Adam did.
2. Sin is sin.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10 NIV)
There are no big or little sins. My wife’s grandmother had a saying: “folks go to hell for lying as well as stealing.” It’s true. The glutton and the murderer are both just as guilty. The dishonest person and the sexually impure are both hell worthy.
Make no mistake, homosexuality is a sin in both the Old and New Testaments:
If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13 NKJV)
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26, 27 NIV)
But before you grab your torches and pitch forks consider this:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32 NKJV)
So don’t be in shock or react with more contempt or disgust over homosexuality than you do other sins. All sin disgusts God.
3. Preach rather than Persecute.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 NKJV)
Jesus didn’t come to condemn or persecute the world. It wasn’t necessary because people who have not accepted Jesus as Lord of their lives and savior of their souls are condemned already.
The last thing we should do is attack, persecute, condemn, or judge homosexuals. Instead we should share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. The only thing that can change them is the abiding power of the Holy Spirit given to them in salvation. Once a person is saved and filled with the Holy Spirit they are empowered to repent of their sins and seek God’s righteous standard of living.
We just need to remember to give the new believer grace to change. Every new believer, regardless of what sin they’ve committed needs the grace that catches us when we fall and gives us another chance to seek God’s righteousness without condemnation.
So, if Jason Collins hasn’t accepted Jesus, all he needs from believers is the good news. If he has already accepted Jesus, he needs grace, encouragement, and support to help him repent of his sin and glorify God in his lifestyle.